“You can’t stop the waves but you can learn how to surf” - Jon Kabat-Zinn
This feels awfully relevant right now. The past three weeks haven’t been easy for me here at SensoriumArte, as I have faced another wave of business challenges. It is so strange to me, that my mood is so related to the business that I’m building. In the past, I figured that I would be able to leave any work stress at the office. But it’s feeling more and more like this is just something that is going to be on my mind permanently. Does this sound familiar to you? I think for some it may as I noticed that I’m not the only entrepreneur who feels like that. So, how do we turn all of this negativity into something positive? I’m not sure, but let’s find out together.
What has been on my mind lately
Before getting into finding solutions that can help, I wanted to be a little bit more transparent with you about some of the business struggles I have been facing. In the last three weeks, I have received a few hits regarding the timeline and the budget. I received some invoices that were significantly higher than expected, which is never a good thing for a start-up. Besides that, I found one of my developers to suddenly be unresponsive and not deliver the work that was agreed on. I started doing some research on his socials and I saw a few signs that weren’t making me feel confident about the capabilities of him finishing this project with me.
I have also been facing some anxiety about the launch. I am a person who is very comfortable around friends and family but is not a fan of being in the face of publicity. The idea of being the center of attention is something that doesn’t appeal to me. For SensoriumArte, I have decided to become involved in the entire social media strategy myself. This means showing my face on camera, showing vulnerabilities, making jokes, and being exposed to public opinion. It might sound strange. I have always been that person who strives to build something for myself without being actively out there.
On the one hand, I’m very excited to finally go public with the business, as this is something that I’m truly proud of. On the other hand, while being difficult, the past three years have been somewhat in my safe space. I could do all the work I wanted from behind my desk, and nobody would notice. Deep down, I know it’s time for people to get to know me because that’s what I worked so extremely hard for. I guess, making the first step never is easy.
Business challenges that may sound familiar
Realistically, I’m aware of the fact I don’t have it half as bad as some people who are facing business problems. The art of successfully building and scaling a business is extremely hard. About 80% of small businesses don’t see the end of their tenth year in business, which shows that every business faces hardships. After conducting some research, I noticed a recurring theme in terms of common problems that businesses face. I personally haven’t faced some of these yet as I’m launching 16th of September, but I do know that is important to identify these problems early for you to find a suitable solution.
Finding customers
Even the biggest companies around the world actively face this business problem, let alone small businesses that are only just starting. How can you find customers when you are not a big name in the industry? And with all the potential customers and platforms to target, how do you know which one to pick? A study from 2021 showed that the customer acquisition cost has increased by almost 60% over the past six years. In addition to that, about 49% of companies report that customer acquisition is their primary marketing objective.
While these stats might be overwhelming, you’re not solving anything by just spraying and praying, or trying to target the cheapest audience groups to save costs. The chance of finding the right customers is increased by spreading the word to the right people. And that means conducting extensive target audience research and creating buyer personas.
Increasing brand awareness
Another common business struggle is that customers don’t know who you are, which means they are most likely not going to buy from you. Recent studies have shown that 60% of people won’t buy from a brand they have never heard of. About 70% of brand managers say that building an audience is more valuable than direct sales and that their primary goal for running marketing campaigns is to build brand awareness.
Brand awareness is a key factor in building trust with your audience. The more people can associate your products with your brand, the more likely people will become loyal customers and drive sales.
Spreading brand awareness can actually be done in different ways. First of all, using PR to give your business some positive publicity might be a strong place to start. I am planning to do the same for SensoriumArte. Finding out which magazines and news outlets are covering your industry, building relationships with them, and working with their reporters can have a great impact on getting your brand out there.
Partnering with another brand can also be a good way to help you inherit part of their brand image and status. Co-marketing can get you a large volume of new contacts and visitors that potentially weren’t going to find you otherwise. You need to make sure that the brand you are thinking of collaborating with offers a positive brand experience and hasn’t done anything controversial.
Managing workflow
From the moment your business goes live, you have to ensure that every part of your business is structured. You and your team need to have all the tools and processes in place to deliver solid work efficiently. At first, you might be doing everything on your own. This is where the real challenge occurs: What do you do when you need to scale your business?
The first thing I would recommend is to work with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) templates. It is a step-by-step, repeatable process for any routine task. These types of documents prevent stress, mistakes, and miscommunication. On the other hand, it ensures reliability, efficiency and consistently hitting quality standards. It has really helped me with some common start-up challenges.
If you do work with staff, it is very important to hold frequent (one-on-one) meetings, see whether customers are satisfied with their work environment and processes, as well as challenge yourself and employees to find potential threats to the business and issues that can potentially harm your business the most.
While these are just a few of the many business challenges facing (small) business owners on a daily basis, there are many more challenges for us out there: Financial planning, scaling your business, logistics, marketing efforts, and much more. Tackling most of these problems will be done through proper planning, research, and strategy.
Turning setbacks into comebacks
While the problems mentioned in this blog are mostly specific business issues, business owners can also face mental challenges. Even when you know how to solve a problem, sometimes things can just get too much. I have found a few things to be helpful:
Reflect and assess. Take a step back if you feel like you need to. Look at what issue is causing this feeling, and try to understand the root cause of it. Making a problem feel attainable is a key step in solving it.
Seek feedback and advice. Although sometimes it may look like you are alone in this, it doesn’t have to be the case. Reach out to industry experts, mentors, or even family and friends for advice or just to have a conversation. This can help you with a new perspective to navigate through the difficulties you’re facing.
Remember, setbacks and off days are an inherent part of the entrepreneurial journey. Embracing that, and staying motivated to actively search for a way to navigate around these business challenges will make you and your brand strong, more adaptable, and better equipped for future success.
